Little Wickets Blog December 2019 –

It’s not long to go until the Little Wickets elves go into hibernation over the festive period but before that happens, we’re very excited for the last couple weeks of this term and all the crickety fun coaching we’re going to deliver to our Little Wicketers in that time!

This time of year lines up a lot with my subject matter for this particular blog post quite nicely.

If you’re in the ‘celebrating Christmas’ camp then no doubt you have a bunch of traditions and ‘rules’ that your family respects with regard to

Putting up the tree

When, where, and how many miscellaneous decorations are allowed to spill haphazardly into the general foray of your household clutter

Are you more Christmas pudding or gingerbread house people?

Do you consider Die Hard to be an acceptable Christmas film?

Can you eat the Advent Calendar chocolate before breakfast?

Do you have naughty elves that visit your family in the run-up to Christmas?

So much of the magic of this time of year comes from families collectively and respectfully working & celebrating together, building a sense of gratitude, hope and wonder, especially for the younger members of the family who still b e l i e v e…

And believe it or not, this is where I’m choosing to shoehorn Cricket into the mix because it wouldn’t be a Little Wickets’ Christmas without a hefty dose of cricket…

Much like the magic of Christmas, the Spirit of Cricket works to make the game as wonderful as we all know it to be. As all ‘crickety’ folks know and respect, the important aspects of the written & unwritten rules of “The Spirit of Cricket” create its own kind of magic, both on and off the cricket pitch.

Unlike in football matches [sorry footie fans], it’s highly uncommon to see a cricketer disagreeing with a call made by the umpire and that’s because of the level of respect – for others and yourself – required by cricket as a sport.

So how does playing cricket help kids?

Well, hopefully, I’ve been leading you successfully down the line of thinking that when kids are exposed to kind traits in sport, like being a ‘good sport’ and adhering to fair play, that are embodied by the phrase “The Spirit of Cricket”, it encourages the foundation of a strong internal moral compass built on respect and thoughtfulness alongside the bonus qualities of picking up new physical and technical cricket skills! Not to mention that when kids are taught to show respect for others, they’re acknowledging others’ intrinsic value and learning to demonstrate other key relationship-building skills like empathy and compassion.

In my eyes, it’s pretty hard to argue that outcome as a bad thing!

Our Little Wickets coaches balance many responsibilities in order to be able to deliver top-notch cricket coaching whilst doing their best to embody and uphold “The Spirit of Cricket”. It’s by no means an easy feat – but it’s so so worth it for the impact it has on the kids and is a large part of why we handpick and vet all of our coaches and assistants to make sure they’re up to the task! They’re doing great things.

Little Wickets has had a fantastic year, in no small part, due to all the coaches’ & assistants’ positivity & hard work and of course the kids’ enthusiasm and your continued support – thank you. The Little Wickets family will be celebrating all of 2019 in a few weeks’ time at our annual Christmas Dinner. The Little Wickets Christmas meal is always the start of the traditional Christmas bit for me, I get to say thank you to them all for their efforts before they get to enjoy the break from coaching & make many happy memories with their own families over Christmas.

Before I go just a gentle reminder – there are NO HOLIDAY CAMPS over the Christmas break so the best thing to do to ensure your next dose of cricket fun is to check out our 2020 Spring Timetable [http://bit.ly/2PcL8xU ] and let us know you’d like to book!

I hope you enjoyed this month’s blog post… As always, thank you for reading and if you’d like to join the conversation on this topic or about anything else, you’re very welcome to get in touch with us, either by emailing info@littlewickets.com or by visiting any of our social media accounts. Our handle is @LittleWickets on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

From our Little Wickets Family to your Family – THANK YOU for a fantastic 2019. Enjoy the next few weeks and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!